"The chance of discovering new things is the greatest at the beginning of a process," he tells Tech Insider, "and the value of just going with the best thing we know about is highest at the end of the process."

In other words, the decision of where to eat comes down to numbers.

The clearest example of this problem in computer science is the practice of A/B testing, a strategy many digital companies use to figure out which ad experiences or user interfaces people find most engaging. In A/B testing, a certain portion of users will get a familiar experience, while the other group will get a new one.

It's up to the company to decide just what that ratio of new and old will be. If they strike the wrong balance for too long — say, favoring the old ad experience over the new for months on end — that could mean missing out on millions of dollars in revenue.

Borrowing from that world, Christian argues that the way to maximize your gustatory happiness is by conducting smart A/B testing.

If it's your first day in a new city, everything is new. You have a 100% chance of eating somewhere you've never eaten before. At the other extreme, if it's your last day before moving away, you don't stand anything to gain from trying a new place you'll never get to visit again. So you should just go to that cozy spot on your corner that crumbles your soup crackers just so.

In between those poles, Christian recommends people take a zoomed-out view of their plans. You don't need to get existential or anything, but if you know you probably will be in that town or city for a few more years, you still have plenty of time to visit your favorite places. If you have just six months left, you might want to lean on the old haunts more often, as that time doesn't leave you with as much cushion for the inevitable duds.

In both cases, Christian says, "your willingness to spend energy trying new things should depend on how much time you feel like you have left to enjoy those things."

That approach doesn't just apply to restaurants — A/B testing shows up in many different contexts and on many different scales. According to Christian, college freshmen should make different decisions than college seniors, and children should make different decisions than their grandparents.

With that distinction, however, youths may do well to take their elders' advice when it comes to matters of experience.

"When your grandfather tells you which restaurants are good, you should listen," write Christian and his co-author, cognitive scientist Tom Griffiths. Think of all the A/B testing he's done over the years. "These are pearls gleaned from decades of searching."